East to West: Marble Ass and Overtime

Imagine John Waters touching down in mid-90s Belgrade, a city beset by international economic sanctions, criminality, and violent ethno-nationalism, and concocting a comedic docu-fiction with the city’s LGBTQ+ community - exposing the prevailing toxic masculinity of the world around them. 

Marble Ass tells the story of Merlinka (Vjeran Miladinović), a local trans sex worker whose weapons aren’t guns and knives, but sex and love. She acts as a local matriarch, spreading her teachings to younger sisters - many of whom were drawn from the trans and queer community of Belgrade, playing fictionalised versions of themselves.

A veteran of the radical Yugoslav Black Wave of the 1960s and still working today, director Želimir Žilnik won the Teddy Award at the Berlinale for Marble Ass, the first film from the former Yugoslavia to openly depict LGBT+ characters. This remains one of his most enduring works, even more brilliant for its open acts of love and positivity at a time of such misery.

Marble Ass will be preceded by a pre-recorded intro from Fedor Tot and a short film:

Overtime

Written/produced by Robin Wade, West Midlands filmmaker

When a chance encounter through an online VR game reunites former best friends, the real reasons for their falling out come to the surface.

UK (2024) / 10’

We're pleased to present these films as part of our East to West season: LGBTQUIA+ history through cinema – from the former Eastern Bloc and the UK, spanning the recent past to the modern day.

With thanks to Cinema Rediscovered. Marble Ass is presented as part of their season, Queer Cinema From the Eastern Bloc.

Cinema Rediscovered on Tour is a Watershed project in collaboration with Park Circus and StudioCanal. With support from BFI awarding funds from The National Lottery.